


breathe (2am)

by bugheadsblueandgold



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, One Night Stands, betty's an intern, greys anatomy inspired fic, idk if this will be a oneshot or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:33:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24702346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugheadsblueandgold/pseuds/bugheadsblueandgold
Summary: “So,what’s your story?”“My story?”“Yeah. Y’know, where you grew up, what you do, the things that make you, you.”“There is no story. I’m just a girl in a bar.”“Hm. Well, I’m just a guy in a bar.” Betty smiles at the man’s antics, and ignores the way his voice makes her want to take him to the bathroom and fuck him in the closest stall.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 1
Kudos: 44





	breathe (2am)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Here's a Grey's Anatomy/Meredith & Derek inspired fic, because I'm rewatching the show and I love them so much. I'm not sure if this will be a oneshot or not, so I guess it depends if you all like this or not. Enjoy! xx

“Could I have a tequila, please?” The bartender nods, and Betty taps her fingertips against the hardwood counter, still slightly on edge after a lengthy conversation with her mother. Even with terminal cancer, she was set on making sure Betty knew she had expectations to live upto. A man steps up to the counter, looking a bit tired. 

“Hey, Fangs. I’ll take a scotch.” He has a red shirt on, bringing out the color of his blue eyes and raven hair, something Betty takes to notice very quickly. “Can I sit?’ The man with the stormy eyes asks, making Betty lose her train of thought for a moment. 

“Go for it.” Fangs, she assumes, hands over her glass of tequila before getting started on getting the man’s scotch, and Betty downs it in one gulp, shaking away the sting in her throat. 

“Rough night?” 

“Something like that.” the man smirks at her reply, and practically downs his scotch as well, swirling the remnants in the glass before drinking again. 

“Rough night?” 

“Something like that.” Betty smiles, and asks Fangs for another drink. “I’m Jughead, by the way.” 

“Betty. Are you from around here?” 

“I just moved from San Francisco. I got offered a job over here, and decided maybe New York was a good idea. Decided it was time for a fresh start.” Betty nods at this, remembering how it felt to be away from her mother when she went off to Northwestern. “So, what’s your story?” 

“My story?” 

“Yeah. Y’know, where you grew up, what you do, the things that make you,  _ you _ .” 

“There is no story. I’m just a girl in a bar.” 

“Hm. Well, I’m just a guy in a bar.” Betty smiles at the man’s antics, and ignores the way his voice makes her want to take him to the bathroom and fuck him in the closest stall. 

  
  


Betty wakes up with a knot in her back from sleeping on the hardwood, sun streaming through the windows of the childhood home that had officially become hers, as of a week ago. It takes her a minute to realize that the guy from yesterday is still sleeping peacefully beside her, hogging a bit of the blanket as she checks the time. 

“Shit!” 

“Mm, huh?” the guy, whose name she can not remember for the life of her, sleepily turns over to face her. She grabs the sheet from under him and wraps it around her body, staring at the man on the floor. 

“Look, it was nice to meet you…” 

“Jughead,” 

“Jughead, but today’s my first day of work and I am going to be late. So, I’m going to go take a shower, and when I come back, you should be gone. Okay?” 

“Or, round… four was it? In the shower.” 

“Out!” She hears his laughter as she runs up the stairs to get ready and smiles to herself, rolling her eyes. 

The New York Times. Her mother had worked there, a long time ago, before moving to Riverdale after Betty’s father had left. She’s only an intern, for now, but there are four spots open that will get chosen at the end of the year to officially work there. “If you’ve all got your ID cards, we’ll head up.” A woman with beautiful ginger hair announces, tall and confident in what seems to be a pair of very expensive heels. 

“Are those Louis Vuitton?” The girl to Betty’s left, gestures to the heels the woman is wearing as they ride up to the 26th floor. 

“They are.” 

“Me too.” the girl eloquently lifts up a black heel, and Betty wonders how she can afford that, all of them being recently out of college and all. They all step out of the elevator, and Betty takes in the bustling space. There are printed newspapers framed to the wall, and there are floor to glass windows adorning the walls.

“This is the conference room. You probably won’t get a real seat anytime soon, but this is where we hold interviews with our most important clients. That chair, over there, is where Obama sat a few years ago.” All of the interns stare at the white leather chair in awe at Cheryl’s statement, who keeps moving. “This is where you’ll all be working. Claim a desk, it’s yours for the rest of the year. You’ll mainly start out with copy editing, maybe pitching ideas here and there. You might write articles, but some of them won’t be published. A lot of them will go on our website, and the most important articles make it to the front page, or to print. Usually, you’ll get assigned to a desk and your editor will decide what they want you to do. Today, there are manilla folders on that desk containing articles with different deadlines that you’ll be working on, automatically assigning you to the desk that corresponds with the one written on the folder. Take one and hope that it interests you. If not, deal with it. ” Everyone takes a manilla folder, and Betty goes for one that says,  _ Forgotten Humans: Highlighting Gang Life in the City.  _

Cheryl goes on to talking about their breaks and what their schedule will be like everyday while Betty looks around, the sounds of the printer and people chatting making her stomach swirl with excitement. She sees two men talking as the girl from the elevator comes up behind her. 

“They’re cute. I wonder what they do here,” she ponders to Betty, who looks at two men, one with jet black hair, and the other with bright ginger hair to rival Cheryl’s. “ Veronica Lodge, by the way.” 

“Betty Cooper,” she returns. She’s about to ask Veronica what article she got when the man with black hair turns around, looking at the interns before his eyes meet Betty’s, both of them shocked. “Oh, for fucks sake,” she mutters under her breath. Of course, the rare time she has a one night stand, he ends up being her boss. Jughead laughs at her as Cheryl releases them to their desks, and pats the redhead on the shoulder as Betty spins in the other direction. “You wanna take these two desks with me?” Betty asks Veronica, figuring they could both use a familiar face. 

“Definitely.” They set their stuff down on their desk, each of them closest to the window and across from each other. There’s another unoccupied desk jutting out from their desks, one that a boy in a sweater vest takes up. 

“Hi, I’m Kevin. Mind if I sit?” 

“Go for it!” Veronica exclaims, seeming happy to be making friends. They all introduce themselves before Betty turns around to go to the break room, desperately needing some coffee. She finds a mug and pours fresh coffee from the pot, taking a deep breath. 

“Are you stalking me?” She jumps at the words to see Jughead standing there. 

“No! What are you doing here?” 

“I work here.” 

“Look, can we just pretend last night never happened? I don’t really need to be known as the girl who sleeps with her boss. We can just stay away from each other, okay?” 

“Sleeps, present tense?” 

“Slept!” 

“If that’s what you want,” he steps closer to her and she looks up at him, their bodies only inches apart. Betty can smell his cologne and it brings back the memory of his lips against hers as she took off his shirt, the smell of eucalyptus mixed with her vanilla scented shampoo drifting throughout the air. His blue eyes never leave her emerald ones as he reaches above her into the cabinet full of mugs, a smirk on his face as he does so. Betty tries to ignore the feeling that her heart is about to beat out of her chest and turns around, picking up her coffee and folder to leave. “That’s my article.” 

“What?” 

“You’re holding my article.” She looks down at her manilla folder, and sure enough, on the inside cover, it says  _ J. Jones: Op-ed.  _ “Looks like we’ll be spending time together after all.” He walks out, leaving Betty standing there, wondering what the hell she was gonna do. 

Lunch rolls around and she heads down to the cafeteria to scope out food options. She buys a salad and spots Veronica, Kevin, and two other interns sitting together. She goes to sit and they all go quiet, staring at her. Betty takes a careful seat down, and opens up her salad container, trying to avoid everyone’s eyes on her. 

“Is it true you’re Alice Cooper’s daughter?” 

“Kevin!” Veronica exclaims, looking a bit embarrassed, albeit curious as they stare at Betty. 

“Yeah, she’s my mom. It’s not a big deal though, okay?” 

“Not a big deal?” a younger man with broad shoulders looks at her, a funny look on his face. “She was involved with the exposition of the Watergate Scandal. She’s definitely a big deal. I’m Reggie, by the way.” 

“Oh yeah! Betty, this is Reggie and Toni. They’re the two other interns, I met them on the way down here.” 

“Nice to meet you both.”

“So, is your mom doing something insane? Press conferences with the White House? International Affairs?” Reggie prods, making Betty pick at her salad. Seeming to notice her discomfort, Veronica steps in, to Betty’s relief. 

“Enough about her mother, Reggie. Have you guys met the desk editors? I’m working on an article with Cheryl, so I haven’t gotten a chance to look around.” 

“I met Archie,” Reggie says. “He’s chill. One of the sports desk editors.” 

“Betty, I saw you talking to Jughead Jones. How’s he? Is he nice?” 

“Please. Nobody can be that nice, smart enough to work here,  _ and  _ that good looking,” Veronica points out. 

“Um, he’s okay. I was talking to him about the article we’re working on.”

“I heard that he was asked to come here to take over Weatherbee’s position after he retires,” Toni says. “He’s supposed to be one of the best editors here.” Betty heard all about how great of a writer Jughead was, but she didn’t expect him to be the next editor in chief. 

“Cooper!” a voice calls as she’s ready to pack up her stuff for the day, and she automatically realizes it’s Jughead. 

“Can I help you, Mr. Jones?” 

“Mr. Jones?” 

“I’m trying to be professional.” 

“It’s not working. Anyway, on Friday we’re going off-site. And as much as I love the pastel princess look, you’re gonna have to look like a normal human being if you’re planning on getting any information.” She nods and he bids her a goodnight, leaving Betty to walk out with Veronica and Kevin, officially done her first work day with a smile on her face. 

“Do you have a specific gang in mind? Or are we just wandering around Brooklyn?” Betty asks. She had changed into black jeans and a navy blue sweater, per Jughead’s request to  _ “not look like the sun on a rainy day.”  _ The first week of her new job had been stressful, to say the least, but at the same time, Betty had never felt so much exhilaration in her life. The feeling of everyone in the newsroom together, or the buzz in the office as soon as breaking news had been reported made her feel like she was part of something bigger. 

“We’re going to a bar,” Jughead tells her as he swipes his metrocard. 

“Okay, seriously? This is supposed to be work.” 

“It is.” 

They arrive at a bar called The White Wyrm about twenty minutes later, and Jughead heads straight in, telling Betty to stick close to him. He heads straight for the counter, where a man that looks really familiar to Betty is standing behind. 

“Hey-” 

“Fangs,” Betty concludes. “You work at the bar on 52nd.” 

“Good memory,” he smiles. “So, Jug. Whatcha doing here?” 

“Some stuff for the Times. Sweet Pea here?”

“Yeah, in the back.” 

“Thanks, man.” Jughead begins walking to the back like he owns the place, and Betty can’t help but wonder how he knows all of these supposed gang members. 

“Did you work here, or something? How do you know everyone?” Jughead chuckles at this, and then knocks on the office door before walking in. 

“Jug! What’s up, man? Haven’t seen you since your dad’s party two summers ago. I still can’t believe he moved us all out here. Who’s the blonde?” 

“I’m Betty, nice to meet you.” she shakes his hand and returns his smile, hoping she doesn’t look as confused as she feels. 

“Manners. We don’t see much of that around here. So, what’d you wanna ask?” 

“Was Tall Boy one of the people who moved with all of you?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t seen him in awhile. Say, eight months? Last I heard he was trying to settle down. Get sober.” 

“Do you know where he is?” 

“I heard he’s in Washington Heights. I don’t know for sure, though.”

“Thanks so much, Pea. Wanna get a drink sometime?” 

“Sure, dude. Just call me or stop by. Later, Blondie.” he waves to Jughead and Betty as they step out of the bar onto the rather calm sidewalk. There’s a couple kids on their way home from school, a man playing the saxophone, and a stray cat that’s seemed to disappear into an alleyway, but it feels quieter than Betty had previously expected.

“Mr. Jones, I really don’t understand what’s going on here. You seem to be family friends, and if this “Tall Boy” guy is just another social call, I’m not really interested-” 

“Okay, stop with the whole “ _ Mr. Jones _ ” thing. You had no problem saying my first name a couple nights ago, and it’s even worse if you’re the only one calling me by my last name. Also, you’re right, they are family friends. Kind of. But now, we’re going to go, because even though it’s fine right now, this area can get bad at night. Monday morning, we’re going to Washington Heights.” The two of them walk and talk as the sun goes down, and Betty hears the sound of motorcycles revving decreasing as they leave. 

The subway stops at the street by her apartment, and Jughead gets out with her, leaving Betty, yet again, confused. “Come on,” he gestures, “I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t wanna take time out of your night.” 

“Come on, Cooper.” She nods and steps onto the platform as the subway doors close, and they go onto getting her to her apartment, which she still has to find roommates for. “Y’know, that night, you took advantage of me.” 

“What?” 

“I was drunk, vulnerable, and good looking. You just couldn’t resist.”

“Well last I heard, you wanted round four in the shower.” He laughs and she finds herself joining him, feeling lighter than she has in awhile. They’re by an alley right outside her apartment building when he stares at her intently: at the way her lips pout out a bit, at her eyelashes that seem to enhance the beauty of her eyes. She’s so lost in the moment that suddenly, she doesn’t care - doesn’t berate herself about how he’s her boss and she’s his intern and how this will cause a mess in the morning. She brings him into the alleyway and kisses him with all of the energy she can muster, and in return, he lifts her so she’s propped up against the wall, so that he can explore with his fingers until he feels her release on his hand. Eventually, they find their way upstairs, where he takes his time with her, kissing every inch of her body and worshipping it like it’s the only body he’s ever known. 

What do you do, after you grow out of the wading pool, and onto the deep end? You can stay where you were, get out, or you can learn how to swim. You risk drowning, but you also get the chance to learn what it’s like to have faith that you’ll come back up for air, to breathe again. 

Jughead, Betty thinks, is what it feels like to finally breathe again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave comments and kudos, if you'd like, and let me know if I should continue this! :)


End file.
